


The Challenger

by Kay (sincere)



Category: Bleach
Genre: Bunny Ears Lawyer, Gen, One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-23 01:12:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2528540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sincere/pseuds/Kay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yumichika may be pretty and he may be vain, but he is not to be underestimated. People who don't recognize that discover it for themselves, sometimes unpleasantly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Challenger

**Author's Note:**

> Contains the 11th Division. This was for the fic_promptly prompt "Bunny Ears Lawyer", and while searching the wiki they pointed out Yumichika as a perhaps somewhat unusual example of this trope. I'm very interested in Yumichika's role in the 11th, so...!

Unsurprisingly, the 11th Division had arranged for an excuse to fight each other, and they were having a great time doing so. The arena was packed with rowdy men, alcohol was being consumed in excessive quantities, and the unmistakable sounds of violence rose above the carousing.

The only one not enjoying himself was Yumichika. He felt the stuffy atmosphere weighing him down as if it were physically flattening his hair and sticking his robes to his skin, and as proud as he was of the other members of his division, it was simple fact that they maintained varying degrees of cleanliness. That fact became much more apparent when crammed into an enclosed space together.

It was _not_ a beautiful event. In fact, there wasn't really anywhere that he could look that didn't pain him.

Ikkaku pried himself from the merriment to tell him flatly, "Get out of here already."

Yumichika hissed, "I'm not just going to go hide in my room while the rest of my division bonds without me! What would they think of me?"

The other man looked at him incredulously. "No worse than what they already think of you," he pointed out.

Ikkaku meant the world to him but he just didn't understand. There were _lines_ , Yumichika thought sullenly. People knew not to cross those lines. Certainly he wasn't rowdy and loud and violent and smelly, and certainly he preferred maintaining his beautiful appearance to fighting a strong opponent.

But almost everyone in the 11th Division had come to respect his commitment to the battle and his skill on the field. Those who doubted had learned the lesson _forcefully_ as time went on. Spending the evening in his room instead of out here with the other shinigami who were enjoying their fights and the challenge of losing prestige was the equivalent of retreating from combat because he didn't want to risk losing and didn't feel he belonged there.

The matter was resolved for him when the current competitors limped out of the arena and a voice called out, "Fourth seat!"

A brief hush fell over the crowd.

The way the game worked was that everyone was given an opportunity to claim a rank that they wanted. And then someone who held that rank would fight them to defend their seat, and if they lost, the challenger would be promoted to that rank.

Someone had challenged Touda Akio for the rank of fourth seat, knowing full well that the delicate balance of the 11th Division officers relied on the fact that Yumichika chose to stay at the rank of fifth seat. If Akio lost, Yumichika would be demoted.

He was willing to sacrifice the third seat to Ikkaku, and he allowed Akio to have the fourth seat because it was an unlucky number. But no man in this room had the power to take the fifth seat from him.

Yumichika got to his feet, calmly. "I accept the challenge," he said.

Akio looked relieved, but there was a protest from a few scattered members of the division. Yumichika brushed his immaculate hair back with one hand and turned to his captain, explaining, "If Akio loses, I would be demoted. I think I have the right to step up and defend my rank, even though I wasn't the one challenged. _Obviously..._ " He turned a thin, malevolent smile on Akio. "...if someone cannot defeat the fifth seat in combat, they could not defeat the fourth seat either."

The color drained from Akio's face. Yumichika could have his rank in a heartbeat if he wanted it, and no one knew the precariousness of Akio's status better than the man himself.

Kenpachi laughed, short and sharp. "Go for it," he said generously, waving his sake in the air. "Just don't back down if your pretty outfit gets messed up."

"Oh, I don't think that will be a problem, Captain," Yumichika said, turning the smile on his challenger. Fighting hand-to-hand posed a greater risk to his appearance than fighting with blades, but he wanted everyone in the division to know that he wasn't concerned that even one of the feathers gracefully adorning his features would be displaced in the fight.

Two minutes later the party was in full swing again. Yumichika informed Ikkaku, "I'm leaving."

" _Now_ you want to leave?" Ikkaku grinned at him, broad and wild. "But the night's just getting started! Didn't you get a rush from that fight?"

"He really wasn't worth my time," Yumichika said dismissively, and then held out an arm, showing off his sleeve. "And he bled on my shihakushou. I have to get changed, and then I'll be back."

"It's black," Ikkaku pointed out. "You can't even see it."

He was truly oblivious. "I'm not sitting around all night in _dirty robes,_ Ikkaku! I'm not a _barbarian_." Ruffled by the suggestion, Yumichika turned and stalked from the room, the picture of wounded dignity, with his hair immaculate and his feather decorations perfectly in place.

The members of the 11th Division parted before him to make way, reminded once more that they owed him their respect.


End file.
